Canberra Light

by Paul Cliff

In this, his fifth full-sized collection, Paul Cliff evokes thecity of Canberra and surrounding region, where he has lived for the past 20 years. The poems work via characteristically wide-ranging moods and voice registers, from lyrical and elegiac to narrative and comic. They also deploy a variety of forms, from sonnets and odes to fables and epigrams, underlain by seductive rhythms and arresting metaphor. The capital's festivals, institutions and monuments, everyday street life, suburbs, and lakescape are investigated, while the more distant terrains of Weereewa (Lake George), Namadgi, the Monaro, the Snowy Mountains, and the South Coast of New South Wales are also evoked in engaging and often striking terms.

88 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2019

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's wonderful reading about a place you've lived in for over 50 years through the eyes and minds of a poet who gives you a fresh view.
There's quite a bit of local and vernacular recent history here too. From the dubious popularity of our many tittied sky whale to the drowning of the town of Adaminaby Blues to create Lake Eucumbene, just south of Canberra.
In this reading I read it slowly cover to cover, I've had to resist picking it up and reading it again. It's a collection I think I could dip into many times and get more from it each time. I'll be looking to add this to my poetry collection but back to the library is the fate of this copy.